The Camp House

The second half of our live event, The Legacy of the Big Nine, picks up right where the first half left off. In this episode we focus on the impact of the urban renewal projects of the 1950s on the African American community. We also spend a good amount of time digging into the rich musical heritage of the Big Nine. Finally, the conversation finishes up with an audience Q & A.

My guests for this event that you will hear from included City Councilman Moses Freeman, Bessie Smith Cultural Center’s Dionne Jennings, Jazzanooga’s Shane Morrow, and writer Charlie Moss. Thank you so much to everyone who came out and made this first live event such a success!

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The Legacy of the Big 9 is one of the historical treasures of Chattanooga. Beginning in the late 19th century, 9th Street, known today as Martin Luther King Blvd., was the heart of our city’s African American culture. On February 20th we recorded our first live podcast event to discuss this legacy and here in this first half of our conversation we focus on the establishment and growth of the area up to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. My guests for this event that you will hear from included City Councilman Moses Freeman, Bessie Smith Cultural Center’s Dionne Jennings, Jazzanooga’s Shane Morrow, and writer Charlie Moss.

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Blake Canterbury is the founder of Purposity, a new organization that seeks to connect people as directly as possible to real needs in their community. The name itself is a reflection of their mission, a combination of the words "purposeful generosity". In this interview we are joined by Whiteboard co-founder Eric Brown, whose local Chattanooga company was instrumental in developing Purposity and bringing the platform to our city.

To sign up for Purposity, check out their website: http://www.purposity.com/

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Our premier LIVE EVENT is tonight, February 20th, at 6:30pm at The Camp House! We are going to be talking about the Legacy of the Big Nine, the historic African American business and cultural district that we know today as Martin Luther King Blvd. The event will be in a panel discussion format and joining me will be City Councilman Moses Freeman, Dionne Jennings of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Shane Morrow of Jazzanooga, and local writer Charlie Moss who has published several pieces on the history of the Big Nine. After the formal questions there will be a time of audience Q&A so I am really looking forward to having you guys there and hopefully participating and contributing to tonight’s conversation.

Music in this episode: "Do Your Duty" by Bessie Smith, 1933

Andrew Kean has spent time in both the private and public sectors of Chattanooga. As a result, he has a unique and timely perspective on what it means to invest in a local community, to steward our city and our local economy well in order to make Chattanooga a great place for everyone and for those who come after us. In this episode Andrew shares his story of coming to Chattanooga and eventually starting Alderman Holdings, a company created with three of his friends focused on maintaining and growing local small businesses.

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Ted Alling has become an important figure in the startup economy of Chattanooga. In this episode we discuss his story from entrepreneur starting a business with his friends to those same partners creating startup incubator Lamp Post Group. In the midst of the story our conversation moves on to leadership, education, and what makes Chattanooga such a great place to live, work, and give back.

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What a great week to talk about soccer in the Scenic City! In this episode we sit down with Chattanooga FC General Manager Sean McDaniel to discuss the history of the club, this Friday's match featuring the US Men's National Team taking on Jamaica at Finely Stadium, plus a whole slew of other announcements that promise to make this a great year for soccer in Chattanooga.

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Innovation isn't just for "brainiacs, dot comers, & techy hipsters", it is for all of us and it holds the power to transform our city and our community. That is the message in this special episode of the podcast featuring Stephen Culp's keynote address from the 2016 Spirit of Innovation Awards hosted by the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce.

Special thank you to Stephen Culp, Bill Kilbride, and everyone at the Chamber of Commerce for their permission to re-air this speech here on the podcast!

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In December Congress passed the End Modern Slavery Initiative, an enormous step in the fight to end modern slavery around the world. The initiative's author and primary champion was our very own U.S. Senator Bob Corker. In this brief interview we discuss a bit about his time in Chattanooga serving as mayor, time in the Senate, and then spend the rest of the conversation talking about his passion for this new initiative that he has been passionate about.

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Chattanooga Organizations:

A short message of Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and what to look forward to in 2017!

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